Gilbert Durandal
Gilbert Durandal is a fictional character from the Japanese science fiction anime television series Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny. Durandal is the chairman of the PLANT Supreme Council and a member of the moderate political faction. Durandal is a man of science and medicine rather than politics, with the stated agenda of ending all conflicts between humans, especially the chasm between the Naturals and the Coordinators, i.e. the Earth and PLANT. While a supporting character to the protagonists of the PLANT/ZAFT side of the story, he serves as the principal antagonist in the series, especially to the protagonists of the original Mobile Suit Gundam SEED. Past Before he was Chairman of PLANT, Durandal was a brilliant young physician specializing in genetics and advanced biomedical techniques. He also was a friend of Rau Le Creuset, who was also his patient, as it appears that it was he who prescribed Le Creuset the pills to stop the pain from his genetic malfunctions. However, despite Gilbert's efforts to ameliorate his friend's suffering, he could do nothing to "save" Rau from his genetic death sentence. Rau's inability to understand the purpose of his existence helped Durandal form his opinions about a perfect world society. Durandal also had a relationship with later Minerva Captain Talia Gladys but she left him because she wanted a child. Nevertheless, it appears that in CE 73 they are still sleeping together (they were shown sharing quarters on the Minerva). In the Gundam SEED Destiny Astray manga, he is shown with Kira Yamato's biological father Ulen Hibiki. This suggests that he knew of Dr. Hibiki's Ultimate Coordinator project and may have participated in it. This connection between Durandal and Hibiki is never clarified in the actual show. Years prior to the events of the Bloody Valentine War, as depicted in Gundam SEED X Astray, a mysterious black-haired man wearing sunglasses met the then-escaped young Canard Pars and instigated him against Kira Yamato. In C.E. 73 this man is revealed to be Durandal; however, his reasons for doing so not given. Gundam SEED Destiny Armory One raid In October CE 73, Durandal meets with Orb’s representative Cagalli Yula Athha to discuss about the rearmament of ZAFT but this meeting is interrupted when three prototype mobile suits of ZAFT are stolen by three Extended pilots of the Earth Alliance. Durandal later stays on the Minerva while the ships is chasing the Girty Lue of the EA. When the Minerva tries to prevent the pieces of Junius Seven from falling on Earth he returns to PLANT and after the colony drop helps the Naturals by bringing medical goods and food on Earth. Nevertheless, PLANT is blamed for the colony drop and although Durandal tries to negotiate PLANT is attacked by nuclear missiles and so the Second Bloody Valentine War starts. Restoring the peace Durandal calls for help from Lacus Clyne sound-alike Meer Campbell to act as the true Lacus and to calm down the people in PLANTs. Also, during a meeting with Athrun Zala, he is able to persuade him to come back to ZAFT and also makes him a member of FAITH. He also follows the path of the Minerva while he is on PLANT. He saves Shinn Asuka from being punished after he violated military orders, since his skills are needed in order to fight the disastrous attacks of the GFAS-X1 Destroy. (Which will cause Shinn to be more arrogant.) He makes a speech to the entire world, revealing the existence of Logos and that this organization is behind the war. Footage of Archangel and the Freedom Gundam fighting against the Destroy are omitted from his speech, propaganda to further spread the image that the ZAFT military alone was responsible for the victory. Fearing the Clyne Faction's interference in his plans, Durandal orders the destruction of the Archangel. When it is supposedly destroyed, he offers the new Destiny and Legend mobile suits to Shinn and Athrun respectively. Durandal tries to convince Athrun that the Archangel caused confusion in the battlefield and did not come to assist ZAFT. He even claims that if Kira had used his abilities correctly, he would have turned out differently. Athrun was completely unconvinced, so Durandal and Rey Za Burrel then frame him as an agent of Logos, as well as Meyrin when she aids Athrun. When ZAFT attacks the Earth Alliance base where the remnants of Logos are hiding, Durandal personally attends the battle. Destiny Plan A research notebook recovered by Martin DaCosta on the abandoned Mendel space colony reveals that Durandal has something in his mind called the "Destiny Plan", and it is related to his passionate speech to the entire world about defeating the warmongering Logos, and creating a new world where war no longer exists. The Archangel's crew think his plan would be to implement a new world order where every human is given the role for which they are best genetically suited at birth, and this would fulfill Durandal's ideal of perfect genetic determinism, as this should be the ultimate goal of all Coordinators. Under this theory humans will no longer fight against others for things that they wish, since each person's destiny are predetermined at birth. Throughout the series, Gilbert is usually portrayed as a brilliant master strategist who is usually a step ahead of his adversaries and is often shown with his signature chess board close at hand, and imagines playing a metaphysical game of chess against Rau Le Creuset, his since-deceased former friend, and the one person Gilbert could not "save". This represents their two warring philosophies as to the continued existence of human life - Gilbert believed he was the only one who can "save" humanity (under his terms), whereas Rau believed that human life is worthless, and would inevitably destroy itself even if he did not "speed" the process along with the events of the original series. When Cagalli returns to Orb to after fighting off a ZAFT invasion, Durandal has Meer pirate her broadcast only for the real Lacus Clyne to appear on TV. Everyone is shocked Lacus was in Orb. After Lord Djibril's death, Durandal proposes his "Destiny Plan", which is immediately opposed by the Atlantic Federation, the Kingdom of Scandinavia, and Orb. Stating that "the fate of mankind is on the line" with regards to his Destiny Plan and branding all those who oppose it 'enemy of mankind', the Chairman uses the ZAFT-controlled Requiem superweapon to kill Copland, President of Atlantic Federation, at the Arzachel moonbase. The firing of Requiem wipes out a significant part of the Earth Alliance fleet. These actions are summed up by Lacus Clyne as "death for those that do not comply". Orb and the Clyne Faction forces decide to stop Durandal's plans, on the grounds the Chairman's worldview restricted human freedom of thought and action and that, should he succeed in implementing the Destiny Plan, Durandal would effectively become a dictator. Furthermore, Coordinators, being superior to Naturals in terms of intelligence, physical resistance and ability, would surely monopolize high-end positions in all fields, leaving Naturals to perform lesser jobs.Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny novel During the attack on the Requiem, Durandal talks with Rey and Shinn. He lies to Shinn that their opponents are the remnants of Logos and tells him to use his power to bring peace. Durandal strikes with the mobile space fortress Messiah, which is armed with a Neo-Genesis array. Eventually Gilbert faces Kira Yamato. The Chairman warns Kira that, if he is killed, the world will descend into chaos. Durandal kept Kira talking so Rey could kill him. Rey, through Kira's reasoning, saw that the Destiny Plan paid too high a price for peace and shot Gilbert. His lover, Minerva's captain Talia, stayed behind in the crumbling fortress. The three of them are apparently killed by falling debris and explosions. Durandal's politics While the anime never makes the finer points of his Destiny Plan clear, Gilbert Durandal claims to want to create a world without suffering. In this plan, the destiny of man is predetermined by genetics. He hides this goal until near the end of the series, while previously claiming only the goal of ending war by destroying Logos, whose members he indirectly manipulated throughout the series, as evidenced by Durandal's awareness of the existence of the GFAS-X1 Destroy before it was used— he can be seen viewing the technical specs for the model in Phase-27 of Gundam SEED Destiny, before Stella Loussier uses it to attack Berlin. Even though his words sound appealing but he his words are met to manipulate people to get his side. If his words don't reach certain people, he declares them his enemy. He wants people to play roles that are assigned to them instead of giving them a choice. There is a few things that Durandal words that are true like, War can also be a business and Blue Cosmos/Logos are a threat to mankind. Durandal shows no regrets about eliminating people that he believed had lost their usefulness to him or were obstacles to his agenda. Instances of this include the attempts on the life of Lacus Clyne; Kira tells Athrun he believed Durandal to be behind the attempt to assassinate Lacus Clyne; an attempt on the Chairman's part to eliminate Athrun and Meyrin Hawke, Operation Angel Down, Meer Campbell's assassination and the use of the Requiem super weapon to kill the president of the Atlantic Federation as well as an attempt to destroy Orb. In the manga Gundam SEED Destiny: The Edge, Durandal appears to be aware of the fact that Meer's disguise is not foolproof. When Athrun sees her on TV, Durandal tells Athrun to laugh if he feels like it. He said his plan to use a Lacus look-alike was "using simple trickery". Also, Durandal claims that he wishes to find the real Lacus and hopes that Athrun would help him locate her. These words would return to haunt Athrun, when Kira reveals to Athrun the attempt to assassinate Lacus in Orb. In Mobile Suit Gundam SEED C.E. 73 Δ Astray, Durandal meets briefly with the protagonist Agnes Brahe, a Coordinator from Mars. He is very interested in the fact that at least one Martian colony operates under a society similar to what Durandal himself will later attempt to achieve in the Earth Sphere with his Destiny Plan. Durandal does not, however, explain to Agnes the reason for his interest. Trivia *The official English spelling of Gilbert's surname stems from that of the sword Durandal, as has been confirmed by noted Gundam source Mark Simmons. However, various merchandise from Japan instead uses the spelling "Dullindal". *In the original Japanese version, Durandal was voiced by Shuuichi Ikeda, who also voiced Char Aznable from the original series. Ikeda's role as Durandal marks his first role in a Gundam series after the originals. References Category:Cosmic Era characters Category:Fictional doctors Category:Fictional genetically engineered characters Category:Fictional politicians Category:Fictional scientists Category:2004 introductions